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‘Motivated and prepared’: Canadian Forces engineers training Ukrainian troops

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

WROCLAW, Poland — A passionate Ukrainian soldier hopes the skills he’s learning from Canadian troops and their allies will ultimately help make a difference in winning the war with Russia.About 100 Ukrainian soldiers are being trained at a secret location in southwestern Poland. Canadian military arranged for The Canadian Press to visit the camp.The base is in a rural region with tiny villages, each blending into the next, with plenty of trees and privacy.It’s called Camp Sapper, named after elite combat engineers who are skilled in minefield placement and clearing, bridge building, demolitions, field defences, and road and airfield construction. There are a variety of courses going on. One involves detecting mines first using a metal detector then lying prone and digging carefully into the dirt.There are also impromptu exercises administering emergency first aid.Every 15 minutes or so, there’s a loud bang. A puff of smoke floats into the air as Polish soldiersprov...

Manitoba city discusses options, possible memorial to honour 15 killed in bus crash

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

DAUPHIN, Man. — A western Manitoba community is grappling with how to honour 15 seniors killed in a fiery bus crash last week.Dauphin city council held an in-camera meeting Monday to discuss how it should respond to the collective grief and whether there should be a public memorial or vigil.Dauphin’s ministerial association is also set to gather today and discuss options. A minibus was carrying the group of seniors from Dauphin and the surrounding area to a casino Thursday when it went into the path of an oncoming semi-trailer truck near the town of Carberry.Health officials say ten others on the bus, including the driver, remain in hospital.Five are in critical condition.The names of those killed have not been officially announced.Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak says the city is listening to families and what they need in order to heal during this difficult time. Ernie Sirski, reeve for the Rural Municipality of Dauphin, says the trauma is ongoing and a lot of people are still trying to...

Byelections return seats to Liberals, Conservatives but with closer contest in Oxford

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

OTTAWA — Four byelections have returned seats back to the Liberals and Conservatives in strongholds many observers expected to remain status quo. The federal Conservatives’ Branden Leslie cruised to victory in the southern Manitoba riding of Portage-Lisgar over People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier. Leslie captured nearly 65 per cent of the vote. Bernier, whose fledgling party had its best showing yet in the riding during the 2021 federal election, came up short in his effort to regain a seat in the House of Commons, getting only 17.2 per cent of votes.The race for Winnipeg South Centre saw Ben Carr, son of the late Jim Carr who held the riding for the Liberals and had served in cabinet, easily recapture the seat with a little more than 54 per cent support from voters.Anna Gainey, a former Liberal party president and former policy adviser to cabinet ministers, nabbed 50.8 per cent of the vote to keep Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount red, following the resignation o...

Ozempic ads seem to be everywhere. Doctors and ethics experts are worried about that

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

With ads popping up on TV, social media, giant billboards and at professional sports games, Canadians may be feeling bombarded by marketing for Ozempic and sister drug Rybelsus. Some have taken to social media to document their most remarkable sightings, including Ozempic and Rybelsus ads wrapping entire streetcars and encircling the field at Toronto Blue Jays baseball games.      Both medications are semaglutide drugs manufactured by Novo Nordisk  — Ozempic is the injectable form and Rybelsus is the pill form. They’re approved in Canada for treating Type 2 diabetes and often prescribed off-label to treat obesity.But some doctors and medical ethics experts say the marketing campaign is too aggressive. They worry that such intense saturation of advertising could lead to pressure on doctors to prescribe Ozempic to patients who don’t actually need it, leading to shortages for those who do. They also worry that serious potential side-effects such as pancreatitis and gallblad...

Businesses’ changing credit usage a worrying trend: Equifax

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

TORONTO — Equifax Canada says new data suggests a significant shift in credit usage among businesses in the first quarter of 2023. The agency says the latest numbers highlight growing financial stress in the industrial and financial trades, and cast doubt on the stability of the Canadian economy. Equifax says businesses’ total outstanding balance on bank-issued instalment loans declined by 2.4 per cent from the first quarter last year.However, credit card balances grew by 15 per cent and lines of credit increased by 11 per cent. Equifax Canada’s head of commercial solutions Jeff Brown says in a press release that the decline in installment loans and the shift towards credit card usage could be impeding businesses’ growth potential and hindering their ability to make larger investments.The first quarter also saw a slowdown in new business openings, which Equifax says is a concerning trend.This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2023.The Canadian Press

Daily horoscope for June 20, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

Moon Alert: Avoid shopping or important decisions from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. EDT today (2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. PDT). After that, the Moon moves from Cancer into Leo.Happy Birthday for Tuesday, June 20, 2023:You are spontaneous, charming and entertaining. You are often dramatic and passionate. You need to be around warmhearted, levelheaded people. This year is about service to others, especially family. Therefore, take care of yourself so that you can be of support to someone. Is it time for a makeover?ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★For the next four weeks, your focus is on home, family and your private life. For many, this will be increased interaction with a parent. For others, it will be a focus on real estate, residential moves or redecorating and updating where you live. Tonight: Cocoon.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★The pace of your days will accelerate in the next four weeks, with a busy schedule of short trips, errands, appointments plus increased interaction with siblings, relati...

Olaf Scholz faces tricky balancing act in Germany-China talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (pictured) faces a delicate balancing act this week at German-Chinese government consultations in Berlin, seeking to maintain good ties with Germany's largest trade partner while complying with a G7 pledge to "de-risk" from Beijing.Scholz received Chinese premier Li Qiang for dinner in the chancellery on Monday evening (19 June) ahead of the seventh round of bilateral, biennial talks which are also the first face-to-face session since the COVID-19 pandemic.The summit takes place today (20 June) in the chancellery before Li and the Chinese ministers for trade and reform attend the German-Chinese forum for economic and technological cooperation.The fact Li chose Germany for his first overseas trip as premier reflects the special relationship between Europe and Asia's largest economies. Rapid Chinese expansion and demand for German cars and machinery fuelled Germany's own growth over the past two decades.China became Germany's single biggest trade partner in 2016...

Miss Manners: Why do they text me these boring pictures?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is there a nice response to let someone know that you don’t want pictures of what the weather is doing half an hour away from you?Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: My party guest criticized my hosting to my face Advice | Miss Manners: Should I announce my tipping intentions upfront? Advice | Miss Manners: I was hurt that her caffeine fix was more important than my child’s party Advice | Miss Manners: A neighbor was inexcusably rude to our new acquaintance Advice | Miss Manners: Am I wrong to reply sarcastically to their terse texts? The pictures I’m getting are through text, and I just don’t understand the reason people send them. The weather doesn’t interest me a whole lot, so when people start talking about it, I get bored and almost completely zone it out. I feel like that’s ruder than telling someone not to send you pictures of the weather.I...

Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois ‘deeply disappointed’ by his coach’s comments in captaincy row

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois questioned Domenico Tedesco’s “reality” after the Belgium coach accused him of abandoning his teammates and faking an injury before a European Championship qualifier.Tedesco claimed Courtois didn’t turn up for Belgium’s training camp on Monday because the goalie was “offended” by his handling of the captaincy. After Courtois’ father denied there was a dispute within the squad and said his son was allowed to leave because of a knee inflammation, Tedesco told the media that Courtois was not injured.Courtois responded in a statement late Monday accompanied with a picture of him in a Belgium outfit and one hand on his heart, standing next to interim captain Romelu Lukaku, that he was “deeply disappointed” that Tedesco spoke publicly about their locker room conversation.He added that “the coach’s assessments do not fit with reality.” Courtois insisted he has a problem in his right knee and his decision to leave was taken after consultations b...

Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison teases ‘Once in a Lifetime’ show at DC’s Lincoln Theatre

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:00 GMT

Hear our full chat on my podcast “Beyond the Fame with Jason Fraley.” toggle audio on and off change volume download audio WTOP's Jason Fraley previews Jerry Harrison at Lincoln Theatre (Part 1) $(function () { $('.wtop-audio-container .fa-play').on('click', function(){ var audio_filename = $('div.wtop-audio-file').data("mp3-url"); ga('send', 'event', 'Audio', 'play', audio_filename); }); }); He played keys and guitar on countless Talking Heads hits from “Take Me to the River” to “Once in a Lifetime.”Now, this Thursday, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Harrison plays the Lincoln Theatre in D.C. al...